A guard who had an affair with an inmate at Ashford’s Bronzefield Prison has been jailed for 15 months.

Amritpal Ahluwalia, 30, was jailed last Friday (July 18) at Guildford Crown Court for having a sexual relationship with Colette O’Flaherty.

Ahluwalia bowed his head as he was sentenced for misconduct in a public office.

The offences took place in 2012, when the pair had sex in O’Flaherty’s cell and in the prison hair salon.

Brian Stork, prosecuting, told the court the incidents were "wholly consensual" but that it was against the law for a prison officer to engage in a sexual relationship "whether with or without her consent".

“He knew perfectly well that the welfare of an inmate was paramount,” he told the court.

The court heard that Ahluwalia had denied the charges up until the trial, when he changed to a guilty plea.

The pair were said to have met in the prison in 2011, while O’Flaherty, 22 at the time, was serving a sentence for firearms offences.

“She admits that she found him cute and the two of them had been flirtatious,” said Mr Stork.

They ‘chose the prison hair salon. They could go there on the pretext of collecting books and met in private after it closed’, said Mr Stork.

“He was reassuring, telling her that it would be alright.”

When a rumour escalated in the prison that Ahluwalia might be flirting with another inmate, the court heard that O’Flaherty asked him not to hurt her.

She confided in another inmate and a prison officer who was working in the prison gym and the affair was brought to the attention of the authorities when Ahluwalia was seen on CCTV visiting her cell.

“Prisoners are vulnerable. They should be protected by the prison services,” Mr Stork told the court.

Defence barrister Jemima Ivens said Ahluwalia and his family "felt great shame" over his actions and that he realised what he had done was wrong.

The court was told Ahluwalia committed two further crimes while on bail.

Both related to breaches of a non-molestation order not to contact his wife, who had left him over the affair. They are now believed to have reunited.